Andy Thurman has been a coach for all seasons — and now he’s getting his first gig as a varsity head coach at his alma mater Bartlesville High.
Thurman recently moved into the girls golf head coaching position after Carl Holmes switched to coach the boys golf team.
The boys’ job opened with the resignation of Jeff Rude, who had led Bruin golf since the 1990s.
Thurman had originally planned to try to take Rude’s place. But, when he learned Holmes would be coaching the boys, Thurman applied to lead the girls’ squad and succeeded in getting the job.
Thurman brings decades of experience to the role.
A 1991 Bartlesville High graduate, Thurman served later in the 1990’s as an assistant pro at both Hillcrest Country Club and Adams Golf Course.
While living in Montana a few years later, he helped coach both boys’ and girls’ high school golf teams.
Thurman’s favorite part of coaching golf “is to see the one thing you can help then with and it kind of clicks,” he explained. “They hit that one shot and they say, ‘Oh, I see it now. Golf is a very tough game. It can be very complicated. If you can get them to understand that one little thing … they get this look in their eyes .”
Thurman has met with some of the Lady Bruin returnees, as well as incoming freshmen.
“I’m still not exactly sure what we have, who’s played or what bag they played,” he said. “Once school starts, we’ll get into that.”
Thurman — who also played a lot of baseball growing up — is currently a junior high coach in the Bartlesville program.
In the winter, he’s looking forward to his son’s elementary-aged basketball season.
Thurman also has previous experience as a spring sports varsity assistant, by helping out Micah Lipscomb with the Bruin boys’ soccer team.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: ON COURSE: New BHS girls golf coach looks forward to opportunity